Memento Mori
by DreamAngel2713
Summary: Haunted by strange/terrifying nightmares and bored with the unadventurous life she lives, nineteen year old Haruna Dormer has always looked to book to be her escape. So when a dangerous situation sends her into the supposedly impossible, Haruna finds herself tested in ways she never thought possible. Her life in the hands of friends, foes, and Surgeon of Death himself.
1. Chapter 1: Wide Awake

**A/N: Greetings new readers, and you faithful readers who are here from my original story Insomnia which this is** **going to be sort of based on (this is like a power reboot, lol). I don't have much to say other than I hope you enjoy the story!**

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 **Chapter 1:**

 **Wide Awake**

 _The skinny thin branches began to reach out and tear at the scared girls skin as she desperately ran from her pursuers. She could hear herself wheeze; her lungs screaming at her to stop but the terrifying voices that rang out behind her forced her to keep going._

 _"Run! Run! Run like you always do!"_

 _"No matter where you go we will always be here with you~"_

With violent jolt upright Haruna's eyes then opened in shock as her heart beat wildly within her chest.

 _"So much for sleeping in."_ Haruna thought to herself in frustration as she slowly dragged her tired body out of bed earlier than most nineteen year olds would. Although as her mother loved to remind her, she wasn't exactly like most nineteen year olds in the first place. While her friends were out and about exploring the partying college scene made up of booze, boys, and possible regrets, Haruna's on the other hand preferred more of the "at home" scene. Or in other words, just her and the living room sofa nose deep in a one of her favorite manga books.

It had been that way a while for Haruna. High school had been a hellish experience and was almost exactly when the nightmares began. They had started off as small nightmares about being late, forgetting HW, etc. But as the years passed and high school grew worst soon the nightmares changed into something else entirely. Her Nightmares began to become filled with strange people, wicked voices, and flashes she could not understand. And even now although those years of her life were over and done with, the dreams remained.

 _"It's done with, its over. Ok! new day...new day..."_ Haruna mentally repeated to herself, as she brushed her wavy brown hair back into a simple low ponytail that came to rest gently between her shoulder blades. She then proceeded to shove back the not so pleasant memories of her past as she continued to get dressed for work. After all not everything was all gloom and doom in her life.

Haruna's mother worked in a library in the next town over, and it was because of this that Haruna was granted a temporary summer job there. And if there was anything besides family that Haruna loved, it was books. Books were one of the things she could always count on to brighten her day, to pull her away from the boredom she felt day after day. Manga especially held her interest- the series One Piece to be exact-never failed to bring a smile to her face.

Often Haruna's mother would literally have to force her to put the volumes of the pirate based adventure down so she could actually remember to eat her dinner at the table. There was just something about the series that Haruna truly loved. The adventure, the fights, the friendships, and well just all of it made Haruna yearn for an adventure of her own.

"Yes!, Just enough time today to visit the lake before I head off to work. After all it looks like I do have some free time." Haruna said to herself out loud shoving a piece of cold toast her mother abandoned on the kitchen counter into her mouth. Dressed in nothing but a simple tank top and jean combo, Haruna then stuffed her phone and a random volume of One Piece into her small backpack and headed out the door.

It had taken Haruna about a week or so to finally convince her mother to let her ride the local bus to get the library, instead of having to wake up early each summer morning with her mother and drive. In fact now that she had gotten use to riding the local bus, Haruna found that if she timed it just right she had time to go down to lake or what she referred to as her "secret spot".

For a lake that was as big as it was, sometimes it was shocking to Haruna that not a lot of people ever went down to hang around or swim in its waters. Sure, one time or another when she waited at the bus stop she would sometimes hear people talk about the lake and its supposedly "mysterious" waters. Though the fact that it was less visited just made it all the more appealing to her.

Having walked a distance and now that she had pushed past the many trees that seemed to almost guard the secluded lake, Haruna let out a sigh of relief/contentment as she walked down towards lake's dockside and took her usual (somewhat uncomfortable) seat in the middle of the worn looking wooded dock. However just before she could truly relax, when turning around to pull the volume of One Piece from her bag, her moment of bliss was interrupted.

A slender looking man made his way through the trees and was now walking towards the lake where she sat on the dockside. The man seemed to walk with intent and the fact that he had not announced his presence instantly set Haruna on edge. Almost immediately Haruna got to her feet and turned to fully face the man, now painfully aware of just how alone she really was.

"Uh is this private property? If so, I'm sorry for trespassing. I was just leaving." Haruna said in a strong tone, trying to hide the subtle shake in her voice. As the slender blonde haired man was now standing right in front of her, his eyes scanning her. Almost as if he was cornering her. This forcing Haruna to almost instinctively take two steps back towards the lake.

"Oh no no no, its nothing like that! I just see you walking out here by yourself from time to time and thought that this time I should say hello." The blonde man said with a smile, as he again made a couple steps closer to Haruna edging her closer to the end of the dock.

Warning bells began to go off in Haruna's mind as she stood silently in front of the blonde man in an almost daze. The man looked in to be well in his 30's, and although he had looked slender from a far, now that she was staring at him he was actually quite sturdy. That and despite his smile, Haruna couldn't help but feel on edge at his creeping closeness.

Her mind raced as she tried to think of a response to answer the man. Or a way to gently make an exit for herself without coming off as rude or anymore afraid than she already was. Like a helpless baby bird in the eyes of a snake, her heart drastically picked up speed as adrenaline began shooting throughout her tense body. Her boots now at the end of the dockside.

 _"Manners to hell, I've got to get out here fast."_ Haruna thought to herself as she then without further thought attempted to make a fast break past the strange man, only to almost instantly find her right arm caught in a strong painful grasp.

"Not so fast there kitten I didn't even catch your name." The blonde man said with a sharp laugh, his grip on Haruna's arm tightening.

"Get away from me you sicko!" Haruna yelled out, finding her voice as she desperately tried to wringe herself free from the man's grasp. Gathering all the breath in her lungs she then began to yell loudly her instincts kicking in as she began to twist and lash out at the man. Praying that someone-anyone- would hear her yells and come see what was going on.

"Shut-up! Shut-up! You bitch!" The man roared in anger. Haruna then with all her might reared back her left arm and elbowed the man in the stomach, his sharp hiss of pain letting her know that her hit had connected.

But just when Haruna was almost past the man, his hand shot out again in a messy last ditch effort to reach her. Then what was meant to be a grab turned into a hard shove, as Haruna was pushed off the end of the lakeside dock and into the cold dark waters of the lake with a cry of surprise.

 _"I'm going to drown!"_ Haruna thought to herself in panic as she couldn't seem to remember to close her mouth rather from shock or from fear. The water rushing into her body as her vision started to blur and darken, her body shutting down.

 _"I..can't...I'm...so tired"_ Haruna thought to herself, her body tingled and her eyes finally closed as she fell deep into the darkness of a world unknown.

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 **Well that's all for now! I'm just sort of testing the waters for this (no pun intended!) so I hope you enjoyed it ;) Also on an important note: I am looking for a Beta Reader, so if interested please do not hesitant to shoot me a message.**

 **Feel free to review, favorite, and follow! constructive feedback is always great~**


	2. Chapter 2: Rude Awakening

**A/N: Don't worry I'm not going to blab for too long, just want to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review last chapter! Much thanks XD This chapter took me a bit longer to get out than what I wanted but here it is~**

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 **Chapter 2:**

 **Rude Awakening**

The ground beneath Haruna seemed to sway back and forth, as she lay within the darkness of her mind too afraid at the moment to open her eyes-unsure at the moment if she even could.

What had happened to her? Did she drown to death? Did that creep somehow fish her body out of the strange lake? Too many of these disturbing questions floated around in Haruna's head. Though before she had time to ponder anymore of those bleak thoughts, a sudden harsh poke to her side startled her out of the dark limbo of her mind.

"Ah my head..." Haruna gasped out loud, gripping the side of her head as she came to a upward sitting position from where she lay. As her eyes began to clear, Haruna then couldn't help but notice the multitude of strangely dressed men and woman who surrounded her with startled/confused looks on their faces.

 _Uh...What in the world? Since when do ships like these sail in lakes?_ Haruna thought to herself in confusion. Her eyes darting back in forth as she stretched her neck to see past the crowd that circled around her, only to then find out that she appeared to be stuck on some type of old looking ship.

"Well is it some sort of magic mermaid or what?" A tall lanky man within the circle of strangers suddenly said. Pointing his finger towards Haruna with one brow lifted, looking Haruna up in down in question.

"No you idiot! Just look at her legs, its just some kid." A red haired busty woman to Haruna's left replied with an aggravated sigh.

"It can't just be a kid! Hell the whole sky lit up and the sea was bubbling like crazy when that freak strike of lightning hit, it was insane! The storm went as quickly as it came And your trying to tell me this girl had nothing to do with it? That she was just floatin' on by?" The lanky man shouted back at the red haired woman, who now once again stared at Haruna with her eyes scrunched.

 _Storm? Lighting? Magic Mermaid?_ _What's with these people? Better yet where the heck am I?_ Haruna thought to herself as she then began to examine her surroundings.

Wherever she was at, one thing was for sure she surely wasn't any where near the cold lake that she had fell into. The sun was setting in the distance, and its dimming light shone across the vast ocean waters that surrounded the weird ship she was on. Shakily Haruna got to her feet as she brushed past the crowd of oddly dressed strangers that surrounded her, her mind desperately trying to piece together what was going on.

"What!? The Ocean!? How did I get here! I-I need to get back home..." Haruna said out loud to herself voice raised, unable to keep her rising panic to herself.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible anymore young girl." A new voice among the strangers rang out. Everyone's sudden silence pulling Haruna's attention away from the setting sun and back towards the strangers behind her.

"You see, now you're our property. And although I can't seem to put my finger on it, there's something different about you...and I bet that will fetch quite the pretty penny at a auction house." A surprisingly handsome man said as he slowly approached Haruna, hand on one of the two blades strapped to his side.

Judging from the way the man stood and from the manner of how the others looked at him with fear mirrored in their eyes, it became obvious to Haruna that this man was the one in charge.

"Human trafficking...You people...you are not going to get away with this! By now people will already know that I'm missing, I bet the cops are already looking!" Haruna shouted out unbelieving and angry at the situation she was in.

Just how did things end up so bad? Why didn't she listen to her mother? What had she done to suddenly deserve all of this? All these questions and more flew throughout Haruna's mind, as she clenched her hands into fists down at her sides.

"Cops? What? does she mean the Marines?" The lanky man questioned with a look of confusion. At that point a slight second of silence pasted between all of the strangers as they seemed to take a quick moment to ponder about what Haruna had said, before they all burst out into roar of laughter.

"The Marines!? It's been a year since the fall of Whitebeard and those idiots are _still_ out looking for that crazy Straw Hat kid. Just as long as none of us wave any of those flags they could care less at the moment." The leader stated boldly, lifting his hands up in a triumphed gesture as the rest of his gang continued to laugh.

"They could still-wait...Whitebeard...Straw Hat...Are you guys talking about One Piece? Like the series?" Haruna said mid-reply, her anger fading as this time _her_ face was the one that scrunched in confusion.

"One Piece! What do you know about it girl!?" The leader of the strangers said in startled voice, his blue eyes shining as he closed the gap between himself and Haruna; uncomfortably close.

At that moment Haruna then let out a loud laugh of relief, unable to hold back her laughter as she finally stopped looking around surprised that she hadn't put it together earlier.

"Oh man! This is all just a dream...Like one of those weird lucid like dreams I've heard about in my psychology class! Wow! everything is so vivid, I've never had one of these dreams before." Haruna exclaimed with a cheerful laugh.

"You guys are pirates right? Are we in the New World or the Grand Line? Are any of you devil fruit users?" Haruna asked as she walked around what she now knew to be a pirate ship deck looking for some indication of just whose ship she was stuck on.

"A dream...what the hell is she going on about now?"

"I think she drank too much sea water..."

"We are the Iron Fang Pirates, and as you might of already guessed I am the captain of this ship. Now the time for questions is over, Louie take this strange girl below deck quickly it seems we are going to have company." The blonde captain called out to the lanky man in a hurried tone, hand drawing one of the swords that hung at his side.

"Yes Captain Tenzin!" Louie replied with a smirk as he then roughly grabbed Haruna by the arm and began pulling her away from the deck.

At the draw of their Captain's sword the group of pirates that had surrounded Haruna quickly dispersed to their posts, the once still ship now seemed to shake with their rushed movements.

"Stop! Let go of me!" Haruna yelled out in protest, trying to rip her arm out of Louie's shockingly tight grip.

"Not a chance, your going stay down here and shut-up." Louie hissed in Haruna's ear as he pulled her below deck; his pistol now firmly planted at the middle of her spine.

 _This dream is starting to feel a lot like one of my nightmares._ Haruna thought to herself. The feeling of panic that had left her now arose again, killing the brief excitement that she had felt.

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 **Not too far off into the distance...**

"Captain! They're trying to get away!" Bepo called out leaning against the rails of the bright yellow submarine, the wind blowing throughout his fur as the sub sped ahead to close the distance between themselves and the smaller pirate ship.

"Awe damn, looks like the captain was right! They must of picked up whatever caused that freaky storm." Penguin said looking over at Shachi with a grin, not so secretly hoping that whatever had caused the random storm was valuable.

"Hmph cowards..." A large man with a fierce looking face said under his breath, his size easily surpassing that of the Captain and the other Heart Pirates who stood on the deck of the sub.

"It's not a problem. They can't outrun us." The Surgeon of Death said rather smugly, his face already partly twisted into a triumphed grin.

Walking forward to stand next to his furry first mate, Trafalgar Law's grey eyes shined dangerously.

It wouldn't be a problem. Not at all. Because whatever was on that ship was already as good as his.

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 **A/N: This was more of a building chapter but if you haven't guessed already, next time Haruna comes face to face with the Heart Pirates! As always Reviews, Favorites, and follows are highly appreciated~**


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